Mortar blasts shake central Baghdad

Large explosions rocked central Baghdad tonight during an apparent mortar attack on a city centre hotel.

Iraqi and United States security officials said at least two mortar shells exploded near the Baghdad Hotel.

A US official said there were no casualties from the blasts, which occurred near Saadoun Street. He said the Baghdad Hotel was not hit.

On October 12, a suicide car bombing near the Baghdad Hotel killed eight people and wounded more than 30.

The nearby Palestine and Sheraton hotels were hit on November 21 by at least six rockets fired from a donkey cart, injuring one person.

The Sheraton was rocketed on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day, injuring an Iraqi woman and her daughter in an apartment house nearby.